2 best friends die in Clinton car crash

Saturday

Aug 3, 2013 at 10:00 AMAug 3, 2013 at 6:20 PM

By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Two teens, who were best friends, were killed early this morning after the driver lost control of his vehicle and it crashed into a stone wall and two parked cars on Chestnut Street before bursting into flames.

Police identified the two victims as Keith Dziokonski, 17, and Luke Martin, 18. A preliminary investigation by police shows speed appears to be a factor in the accident, which occurred between 3:20 and 3:45 a.m.

Keith's mother, Jennifer Panizo, who came by the accident scene between 12 and 20 Chestnut St. early Saturday afternoon, said her son lived with her and his two younger brothers at 92 Walnut St. She said Keith, who formerly attended Assabet Valley Regional High School in Marlboro, was a sophomore at Clinton High School.

Ms. Panizo said Keith and Luke were best friends. She said Luke, who graduated from Hudson High School in June, was the driver because her son had never driven and did not have a learner's permit.

Ms. Panizo said police called her husband, who called her at 7 a.m. Police came to her home 30 minutes later, she said.

She said the two boys left her home after dinner Friday night. She said she assumed Keith was staying at Luke's house because he didn't come home by his 1 a.m. curfew.

“I'll never know where they were coming from,” Ms. Panizo said between tears while looking at the accident scene. She said she had come by to see if everything would sink in.

"It just doesn't make sense. I'm just waiting for someone to tell me this was all a mistake,” she said, while her mother and two young sons waited in a car.

Residents near the accident scene agreed that the vehicle had to have been traveling fast. They said the vehicle appeared to have come down the hill from the Wachusett Reservoir and abruptly crossed Chestnut Street near Green Street, knocking down a fence and part of a stone wall and striking two parked vehicles before bursting into flames.

Neighbors said it took emergency workers close to an hour to extinguish the fire and get the teens out. One died at the scene and the other died on the way to the hospital, neighbors said.